Finding a friend in a crowd of people at an event, for example a concert, can be difficult. Typically, people send text messages to each other trying to explain their whereabouts in order to find each other. Online publication “Never lose a friend in the crowd again! App transforms phones into attention grabbing flashing beacons of light, 12 Feb. 2015—http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2950933/Never-lose-friend-crowd-App-transforms-phones-attention-grabbing-flashing-beacons-light.html)” discloses an application which enables a user to select a color on a display of a mobile device, whereupon the display of the mobile device starts flashing according to that color. The user may send a message to another user instructing that other user to look for that specific color.
Alternatively people may use (indoor) positioning applications on their mobile devices to find each other. A disadvantage of explaining one's whereabouts or the use of (indoor) positioning systems is that these methods are often inaccurate and prone to errors (either human error or system errors). Therefore, there is a need for an accurate and error proof method for a person to find another person in a crowd.
European patent application EP 2590116 A2 discloses a mobile device for use in determining a location of a component of a system, which includes a communication interface configured to transmit at least one signal to the component, a display, and a processor coupled to the communication interface and to the display. The processor is programmed to display a representation of the system on the display, display an expected location of the component within the representation, and transmit the at least one signal to the component using the communication interface for use in determining an actual location of the component. The system component may transmit a response message to the mobile device such that the response message operates as a beacon for mobile device. The response message may include a timestamp and/or GPS data to facilitate enabling the mobile device to locate and/or determine the location of system component. The processor of the component may also activate a light source and/or an audio source to generate a visual and/or audio beacon or notification to facilitate locating system component. The processor of the mobile device may updates the model with the actual location of system component.